Romania advancing its plans for more wind energy

After 10 years of slow growth, Romania wants to boost its wind energy again. Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja summarised their plans at the Power Shift Summit in Bucharest on 29 October: onshore wind CfD auctions starting now; grid expansion underway with the support of EU funds; and the first offshore wind in the Black Sea to be operational by 2032.

Romania has 3 GW of onshore wind today, supplying 16% of its electricity. They’ve built very little in the last 10 years. But they now want to increase the share of wind in their electricity mix to 36% by 2030.

They have excellent wind resources and know-how. They have what used to be Europe’s largest onshore wind farms: the 600 MW Fântânele-Cogealac. They’re building a new 140 MW wind farm in Vaslui with GE Vernova turbines. And Vestas have orders for a 190 MW wind farm in Buzau and 2 more worth 150 MW. All these projects will go online next year.

Romania is expected to launch its first onshore wind auction in November. It’s for 1.5 GW new capacity. They’re offering 2-sided CfDs supported by EU funding. The price ceiling is €82/MWh. A second auction is foreseen for 2025.

They’re also making good progress on offshore wind. They adopted an Offshore Wind Energy Law in April with the goal of building a first offshore wind farm by 2032. They identified 2 sites – both for bottom-fixed – which they plan to start an auction process for next year.

At yesterday’s Power Shift Summit in Bucharest Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja talked about all of this. He also highlighted the Government’s plans to stabilise their increasingly renewables-based grid. They’re spending €1.2bn EU money from the Modernisation Fund to strengthen their grids and allocating €150m public funds to storage projects.

WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson told the Summit how Romania can deliver on its great wind potential. They must ensure a clear and steady pipeline of new installations and CfD auctions – no more stop-and-go. And the TSO Transelectrica must invest more and give more visibility on grid connection availabilities. Up to 10 GW of wind projects at different development stages are currently waiting to get their grid connection approval.

WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson said: ‘’It’s very good Romania is building new wind farms again and are about to run their first CfD auction for onshore wind. And it’s very good they’re preparing to start offshore wind in the Black Sea too. And it’s good they’re focusing on their electricity grids too – they need major expansion and modernisation.”